2013 College Football Hall of Fame Class Features Three Big 12 Representatives

May 07, 2013

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A total of three individuals selected by the National Football Foundation for induction into the Football Bowl Subdivision College Football Hall of Fame have Big 12 ties.

Former Texas defensive back Jerry Gray, former Baylor quarterback Don Trull and former Oklahoma linebacker Rod Shoate all represent schools that are currently members of the league.

The full 2012 class includes 14 inductees, 12 players and two coaches, who will be enshrined at the 56th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on December 10, 2013, at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. They will be honored guests at the National Hall of Fame Salute at the Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on January 2, 2014 and officially inducted in the summer of 2014.

Including this year's honorees, Big 12 schools have 99 representatives in the Hall of Fame.

Known as one of the fiercest defensive stalwarts of the old Southwest Conference, Jerry Gray was instrumental in helping the Texas defense shut down some of the decade’s most high-powered offenses. He becomes the 15th Longhorn to be selected to the College Football Hall of Fame.

A two-time First-Team All-American (consensus – 1983, unanimous – 1984), Gray led Texas to four consecutive bowl games, including a 1982 Cotton Bowl victory and a No. 2 final national ranking. He was a two-time Southwest Conference Player of the Year (1983, 1984), and he helped the Longhorns win the 1983 conference title under coach Fred Akers. The two-time team MVP recorded 297 career tackles, 16 interceptions, and 20 pass breakups during his time in Austin.

Combining the speed of a running back with exceptional strength, Rod Shoate became a dominant defensive force at perennial football powerhouse Oklahoma in the early 1970s. Shoate becomes the 20th Sooner to enter the College Football Hall of Fame.

A two-time First-Team All-American (consensus – 1973, unanimous – 1974), Shoate guided OU to a perfect 11-0 season and the National Championship in 1974. The Sooners went 29-4-1 during Shoate’s career, never finishing with a national ranking lower than No. 3. He was twice named the Big Eight Defensive Player of the Year as the Sooners claimed the conference crown in each of those seasons.

Shoate led the Sooners in tackles for three straight seasons and currently ranks sixth in school history with 420 career tackles. He was the second player in OU annals to be named a three-time All-American (Second Team, 1972) while playing for coach Chuck Fairbanks and Hall of Fame coach Barry Switzer.

Don Trull left an indelible mark on the Baylor record books while becoming the school’s first-ever NFF National Scholar-Athlete.Trull becomes the seventh Bear to enter the College Football Hall of Fame.

A 1963 First-Team All-American and First-Team All-Southwest Conference selection, Trull led the nation in touchdowns and passing yards his senior season. He was a two-time winner of the Sammy Baugh Award for leading the country in completions (1962, 1963), and he finished fourth in Heisman Trophy voting as a senior. A trailblazer on the field and off, Trull became Baylor’s first two-time First-Team Academic All-American honoree in 1962 and 1963 as well as the school’s first NFF National Scholar-Athlete (1963).